Public Health Milestone

An estimated eight million lives have been saved in the United States as a result
of smoking measures that began 50 years ago this January, when then–U.S. Surgeon General
Luther Terry released the first Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health. The
1964 warning is seen by many as a pivotal moment in American public health and as
the opening salvo in an ongoing effort to convince people to stop smoking.

According to a Yale-led study co- authored by three U-M SPH researchers and published
in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the 1964 report, and subsequent anti-smoking measures, have significantly reshaped
public attitudes and behaviors concerning cigarettes and other forms of tobacco.

Using mathematical models, the researchers found that while some 17.6 million Americans
have died since 1964 due to smoking-related causes, eight million lives have been
saved—a number that translates into an estimated 157 million years of life.

"We carefully recreated the changes in smoking prevalence and mortality rates by gender,
age, and smoking status for all U.S. birth-cohorts going back to 1864, and then explored
what would have happened in the absence of tobacco control," said co-author Rafael Meza, assistant professor of epidemiology at SPH. SPH Professor Kenneth Warner and MPH student Clare Meernik also contributed to the study.

Before releasing his 1964 report, Surgeon General Terry convened a committee of specialists
who reviewed some 7,000 scientific articles and worked with more than 150 consultants
to formulate the report's findings. Years after its publication, Terry referred to
the report's release as a "bombshell."

Public Health Leaders Call for Renewed Push Against Tobacco Use

During a media briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to mark the
50th anniversary of the surgeon general's first report on smoking, leaders from eight
health organizations, including U-M SPH, called for bold action in the next phase
of the fight against tobacco use. They outlined three goals:

Reduce smoking rates to ten percent (current prevalence is around 20 percent) in ten
years or less ("10 in 10")

Eliminate exposure to second-hand smoke in five years

Put the United States on a path to eliminate death and disease caused by tobacco,
which currently results in one of every five deaths

Despite the success of various campaigns and programs that started after the original
report was issued in 1964, health officials say an estimated 44 million Americans
still smoke—about 20 percent of the U.S. population.

"Tobacco control has been an unparalleled public health success story, and yet the
remaining burden is sobering," Kenneth Warner, Avedis Donabedian Distinguished University Professor of Public Health at U-M, told
reporters. "It has taken us 50 years to cut the prevalence of smoking by just over
half. None of the organizations here wants to return in another 50 years to a job
not done."

Michael Terry, son of the author of the first report, former Surgeon General Luther
Terry, said that even with the celebration of progress at the 50-year mark, his father
might not be satisfied with where the nation stands. "He would be disappointed. He
would be saying: 'What have we been doing?'" —Laurel Thomas, Michigan News